compound meter
Subdivided rhythmic pattern
Compound meter is a rhythmic framework in music where each beat divides naturally into three equal parts rather than two.
Time signatures like 6/8, 9/8, and 12/8 indicate compound meter—the top number divisible by three reveals the subdivision pattern.
The jig's lilt comes from its compound meter.
Contrast with simple meter, where beats divide in two.
Consisting of two
- tripleGroup of three
- sextupleConsisting of six parts
- quadrupleMultiplied by four
- quintupleMultiply by five
septuple · nonuple · time signature · measure · bar · subdivision · triplet · asymmetrical
Stressed unexpected beats
- polyrhythmOverlapping musical beat patterns
- cross-rhythmSimultaneous contrasting beat patterns
- swingSuspended recreational seat
- grooveNarrow cut or routine
backbeat · offbeat · shuffle · subdivision · pulse · accent · strong beat · rhythmic pattern
Dance in three-quarter time
- jigSpirited folk dance
- mazurkaPolish folk dance
- tarantellaLively Italian folk dance
- minuetFormal 18th-century dance
gigue · barcarolle · polonaise · sarabande
Verse rhythm type
- trochaicStressed-unstressed metrical pattern
- anapesticMeter with galloping rhythm
- dactylicThree-beat poetic meter
- pentameterFive-foot poetic line
hexameter · tetrameter · trimeter · dimeter · scansion · foot · stressed · unstressed
duple
Consisting of two
quintuple · septuple · nonuple · time signature · measure · bar · subdivision · triplet · asymmetrical · irregular
syncopation
Stressed unexpected beats
- polyrhythmOverlapping musical beat patterns
- cross-rhythmSimultaneous contrasting beat patterns
- swingSuspended recreational seat
groove · backbeat · offbeat · shuffle · subdivision · pulse · accent · strong beat · rhythmic pattern · feel
waltz
Dance in three-quarter time
- jigSpirited folk dance
- mazurkaPolish folk dance
- tarantellaLively Italian folk dance
minuet · gigue · barcarolle · polonaise · sarabande
iambic
Verse rhythm type
- trochaicStressed-unstressed metrical pattern
- anapesticMeter with galloping rhythm
- dactylicThree-beat poetic meter
pentameter · hexameter · tetrameter · trimeter · dimeter · scansion · foot · stressed · unstressed · syllable
- rhythmbeat, pulse, tempo, downbeat, upbeat
- rhythmsbeat, rhythm, syncopation, offbeat, cadence
- conductingbaton, maestro, downbeat, upbeat, podium
- rhythm notationwhole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note, sixteenth note
- water meterssubmeter
meter, compound, meters, compounded, compounding, metric, metrical, metronome, metrically